The Election Effect

Wondering how the election year could affect your upcoming real estate decision? Studies have shown it can become harder to sell your home in an election year, especially if the contest is close. These studies have concluded that the cause is uncertainty stemming from potential home buyers feeling unsure how an upcoming election will affect their financial fortunes.

2016 is shaping up to be a historical election year with never before seen tactics including massive social media campaigns reaching more people than ever before. The scandals, accusations and vastly different opinions to major topics have many consumers riding by the seat of their pants. Candidates turning to Twitter and Facebook to spark massive debate. This uncertainty is further exaggerated when nearing the end of a 2-term president. Historically speaking outgoing 2-term presidents are less predictable than they are in previous years. They have little time left and often attempt to push through policy initiatives by executive orders and other means. Combine all of the above and you can understand why it may be hard to make what is often considered the most important purchase of your life in the midst of such uncertainty.

This isn’t to say that housing prices are expected to see a drastic change for the worse, merely that the volume of sales tends to slow during election years. Reno is uniquely positioned, having major economic influences helping drive our economy. The positive news in Northern Nevada is overshadowing most of the political uncertainty. Regardless of who the next president is, or what our current president does before leaving office one thing is certain, we’re seeing a massive spike in expected jobs and residents over the next 3-5 years. Major projects are moving forward and more being announced including the West 2nd District urban revitalization project featuring 30 new mixed-use buildings with 1,900 residential units and 700,000 square feet of commercial, office and retail space. This project alone is projected to create 6,500+ construction and permanent jobs.

With a total of roughly 50,000 new residents expected in the next 5 years our rental market has already become much more expensive. Many of these new residents will be accepting well-paying tech jobs and will be looking to buy. There isn’t enough inventory in the Reno area for this many newcomers so it will likely become a seller’s market. If the election year does indeed slow home sales, it may be an opportunity to find the home you’re looking for before the market becomes a bidding war.

As you can see there are many factors weighing into Reno’s real estate pricing and availability. Will the presidential uncertainty be outweighed by the massive influx of new residents needing housing or will previous election years prove true?